Year of the Spark: March 21
by Sparky Army
Summary: John can't stop thinking about the riddle Elizabeth gave him. Will he figure it out? Sequel to Year of the Spark: March 7


_We, the Sparky Army, decree 2008 to be the Year of the Spark. We pledge to post a new sparky story or chapter of a sparky story every day from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008. Though the Powers that Be have removed Elizabeth Weir from the regular cast of Stargate Atlantis, we feel that she remains an integral part of the show, and that the relationship between her and John Sheppard is too obvious to be ignored. We hope that you, and anyone might happen to read these works, agree. _

_And if that isn't official enough for you, we don't know what is. Seriously, guys, we're just trying to have some --and show TPTB that Sparky is the way to go. So sit back and enjoy the 366 stories coming your way!_

A/N: This is a sequel to my last story, Year of the Spark: March 7 or Riddles. Hope you like it and please tell me what you think.

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Solving the Riddle

By saphiretwin369

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John pushed the covers back of his bed and climbed in. He laid back and closed his eyes, but doubted he'd be getting sleep any time soon. His mind just wouldn't shut off. He'd been preoccupied all afternoon by one thing: Elizabeth's riddle. He'd been repeating it over and over as if it would help him solve the damn thing, which, of course, it didn't.

Switching gears, he thought about being stuck in the transporter and it suddenly struck him how cliché that was. He idly wondered how many more rumors there would be now. He wasn't an idiot; he already knew there was quite a lot about him and Elizabeth.

Sure, there were others – about him and Teyla, Teyla and Ronon, Rodney and Katie, Rodney and Elizabeth – but he never paid any attention to those. He only liked to listen to the ones about him and Elizabeth, although some of them were quite ridiculous. And as that thought came, his mind switched gears on him again and he began to wonder when he started thinking of Elizabeth as more than a friend. He wasn't really sure, but he thought it might be sometime after the huge storm where the Genii had almost taken the city and Elizabeth had almost been killed.

He sighed and rolled over on his side. _Staring into green, I'm descending into an endless pit. I am in _this _I admit. And the 'green' are eyes. I could go through everybody who has green eyes and see if that helps. _He quickly dismissed that idea. That would take way too long.

The next morning, John tiredly walked down the corridor, having fallen asleep at two in the morning only to wake up four hours later. He became increasingly closer to the science labs and as he did, he questioned his sanity. Was he really about to go McKay and ask for his help on this riddle? He knew he'd regret it. There was bound to be some teasing about how "Mr. Mensa" couldn't figure it out and how he had resorted to going to the "smartest man in two galaxies".

But then he really didn't want another sleepless night all because –of all things – a _riddle._

He reached the McKay's lab and walked in to see the man in front of his laptop, typing away. "Hey, McKay."

He looked up. "Hey."

"So, um. . . I was wondering if you could help me with something."

"What?"

"Think you can solve a riddle?"

Rodney scoffed. "A riddle? I don't have time to solve a riddle."

John couldn't resist. "Or maybe you're just worried that you won't get it right."

"I didn't say that."

"Yeah, well, I also heard from Keller that you couldn't figure out that bar trick."

"There wasn't enough time! I would have figured it out eventually. Why are you even asking me? Shouldn't you be able to figure it out for yourself, Mr. Mensa?"

John gave him an annoyed look. "Remind me again why I told you that?" he asked rhetorically.

Rodney also gave John and annoyed look. "What's the riddle?"  
"Elizabeth made it up. It's 'staring into green, I'm descending into an endless pit. I am in _this _I admit.'"

"Elizabeth made it up?"

"Yeah. Yesterday when we were stuck in the transporter together." Rodney shot him a look. "What? We had to do something to keep from getting bored."

"So why don't you just go ask her for the answer?"

"Because she won't tell me unless I guess it right. She did give me a hint though. The 'green' are eyes."

"So she's staring into green eyes, falling, and is in something?"

"Sure."

"Well it's fairly obvious." Rodney turned back to his laptop.

"What?"

"She's in love, Sheppard."

John wasn't sure he'd heard right. "Love? That doesn't seem like Elizabeth."

"Are you really that clueless?" He looked up once again at John and sighed before continuing to type. "Obviously. Ok, let me tell you this, the green eyes? They're yours."

That surprised John. "So you're saying she's in love with me." It was more of a statement.

"And you're the only one who doesn't seem to realize."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that everyone, even me – and we know how I can be when it comes to women – can tell that she loves you!"

"Where did you even get that idea? We're just fr-"

"She may be just a friend to you, but you are not just a friend to her. Trust me. If she didn't love you she wouldn't have worried as much as she did when you were captured by the Genii. And she wouldn't stay overnight in infirmary whenever you do God knows what to yourself and look at you the way she does if she thought of you as 'just a friend.'"

"What do you mean she stays overnight in the infirmary whenever I'm there?"

"Right, um. . . Just pretend I didn't tell you that, ok?"

"McKay. . ." John said in a warning voice.

"Look Sheppard. She loves you. Trust me on this."

John was silent for a moment. "All right. Um. . . I gotta go." He left the science lab and headed for the balcony. He needed to think and that was the perfect place to do it. _Was Rodney right? Did she really love him?_ After a while he decided to find out for sure. He left the balcony and headed for Elizabeth's office.

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A/N: So I left you hanging. Hope you don't think it's too cruel. Anyone interested in a threequel? Please let me know! 


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